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Daniel Beauregard

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Opinions mixed for superintendent finalist

The long search may have ended; the DeKalb County School Board is planning to publicly vote on Aug. 29 to install Dr. Cheryl Atkinson as the new superintendent of DeKalb County Schools. Atkinson has been an educator for nearly three decades and has r...

Cross Keys High offers engineering and IT classes for DeKalb Schools

Engineering teacher Patrick Gunter points to a computer that controls the robotic arms at Cross Keys and holds up a bearing casing to show students.
Students crowded around as teacher Patrick Gunter flipped the switch to an air compressor, which started up with a loud hum. Suddenly, a metal arm on the nearest table began to move. “These are industry standard based machines,” Gunter said. “T...

DeKalb Schools releases preliminary draft of new superintendent contract

The DeKalb County School System released on Aug. 19 the preliminary draft of Dr. Cheryl Atkinson’s employment contract. Atkinson, who has been named the final candidate for superintendent, is currently the superintendent of the Lorain City School S...

DeKalb Schools names final superintendent candidate

Dr. Cheryl Atkinson
The DeKalb County School Board announced that it has selected Dr. Cheryl Atkinson as the final candidate in the system’s long-running superintendent search, but not all members are in favor of her. Atkinson is currently the superintendent of the Lo...

Allaben convicted of murder, sentenced to life in prison

A DeKalb County jury sentenced 47-year-old Dennis Allaben to life in prison for strangling his wife, then driving to Virginia with her body in the bed of his truck. On Aug. 11, Superior Court Judge Linda Warren Hunter sentenced Allaben to life in pri...

Sketch artist drawn into a life of catching criminals

Georgia Bureau of Investigation sketch artist Marla Lawson sits behind the desk of her office in DeKalb. Photo by Daniel Beauregard
The lifelike clay heads with glazed eyes that line the shelves of Marla Lawson’s office in the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) headquarters in DeKalb County create a spooky scene. Lawson, a forensic artist, who has been sketching criminals an...

Clarkston city manager stays connected with community

Every Friday morning Clarkston City Manager Keith Barker gets to work at 8:15 a.m., has a quick cup of coffee then gets into a blue Ford pickup truck with a City of Clarkston Public Works logo on the side. Barker, who has been the city manager for a ...

Return to school brings changes

Children crowded off buses and rushed through the front doors of Columbia Middle School on Aug. 8. It was the first day of school and traffic was backed up for miles as cars and buses waited in line to drop off students. This year the DeKalb Cou...

Prosecutor: Allaben planned his wife's death

Assistant District Attorney Patricia Jackson told jurors Aug. 9 that Dennis Allaben lost control of his wife so he came up with a plan to “stop her dead in her tracks.” Allaben is accused killing his wife, Maureen, on Jan. 3, 2010, in their ...

Decatur’s fourth and fifth graders all under one roof

Decatur’s brand new 4/5 Academy at Fifth Avenue will house all of the Decatur school system’s fourth and fifth graders. Photo by Daniel Beauregard
Principal Bruce Roaden, of City Schools of Decatur’s new 4/5 Academy, said that he remembered not too long ago “we were out back turning dirt” and praying that the school would be done on time. The school was finished on time and on Aug. 2 it o...